India's hungry mosquitoes
Online posting: February 26, 1997
Published in print: April 15, 1997 CMAJ 1997;156:1121
Re: Malaria in Canada, CMAJ 1997;156:57 [full text / texte complet]
My husband, Dr. Curtis A. Steele, and I have just returned
from India. We learned all we could about malaria before the trip
and followed advice, and I hope we will not acquire the disease.
We offer some additional information based on our experience.
Arriving in the Bombay airport at 2 a.m. -- most flights from
abroad arrive in the middle of the night -- hundreds of travellers
stand in line in a space where mosquitoes abound. To prevent
being bitten, visitors must apply an insect repellent before
landing. We did not do this and were each bitten dozens of times
before arriving at the immigration desk.
Window screens are seldom used in India. During our travels we
saw only one screened window, and a few more with lace serving a
partial screening function. Even in our air-conditioned hotel the
bathroom window had a grille, not a screen, between us and the
outdoors. Screen doors do not exist -- outdoors and indoors are
one.
There was nothing from which to hang a bed net in any of the
places we stayed, expensive hotels or otherwise. We find it
impossible to imagine being in India and not being bitten by
mosquitoes, unless one stays covered in a completely effective
mosquito repellent.
Nancy Porter-Steele, PhD
Halifax, NS
helthpsy@atcon.com
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